NFL Bans Players From Wearing Beats By Dre Headphones

The Beats By Dre brand has been a fave among athletes for some time, but the NFL is banning players from wearing them ... at least during league-related activities.

In August, the league announced that Bose has signed on to become the official headset for the NFL, so it's banned the use of the competitor by players. According to Yahoo Sports, the ban restricts players from wearing Beats By Dre headphones during all NFL-related broadcasts -- including "all TV interviews during training camps or practice sessions and on game day."

Players are also be barred from appearing on-camera with Beats during postgame interviews up to 90 minutes after the end of each game. Those seen wearing the brand during restricted times will face a fine by the league.

However, Rolling Store reports that the ban "isn't expected to impact Beats' promotional deals with NFL Pro Bowlers like Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton", though the rules will be applied to them all the same.

"The NFL has longstanding policies that prohibit branded exposure on-field or during interviews unless authorized by the league," the league said in a statement. "These policies date back to the early 1990s and continue today. They are the NFL's policies -- not one of the league's sponsors, Bose in this case. Bose is not involved in the enforcement of our policies. This is true for others on-field."

In response, the Beats By Dre brand said it's product has become "as important to performance as any other piece of equipment."

"Over the last few years athletes have written Beats into their DNA as part of the pre-game ritual," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement, according to Re/code. "Music can have a significant positive effect on an athlete's focus and mental preparedness and has become as important to performance as any other piece of equipment."

Re/code's report said that Beats controls 61 percent of the market share on headphones costing more than $100, while Bose holds 22 percent of the space and Sony has just 2 percent.